Astros’ Altuve likely to play in World Baseball Classic

Astros second baseman Jose Altuve could get a spot on Venezuela's team in the World Baseball Classic. ( Karen Warren / Houston Chronicle )

Astros second baseman Jose Altuve was on Venezuela’s initial roster for the 2013 World Baseball Classic, Houston general manager Jeff Luhnow said Monday.

Official rosters will be unveiled Thursday. Ryan Braun, Giancarlo Stanton, R.A. Dickey and Craig Kimbrel are expected to be on Team USA.

Luhnow said there’s a chance Altuve is left off Venezuela’s final roster. But Luhnow made it clear Monday that Houston expects to conduct nearly a month of spring training without its top player in 2012. The WBC is scheduled Mar. 2-19 in cities including San Francisco, Miami and Tokyo. MLB spring training begins early this year — Astros pitchers and catchers report Feb. 11 — as a result.

Altuve, 22, hit .290 with 80 runs scored and a .740 on-base plus slugging percentage last season. His pairing with shorstop Jed Lowrie is expected to be one of Houston’s few strengths next season.

Luhnow said in December he expected the Astros to have the fewest WBC players of any team in MLB. But after examining the initial rosters, Luhnow expects multiple Astros MLB and minor league players to participate in the Classic, including at least two for Taiwan and several for Spain.

“I suspect that we’ll have some representation in the Classic,” Luhnow said.